Micro Blogging Site Twitter turns seven!

The micro-blogging site Twitter turned seven today. Seven years ago, on March 21, 2006, the first official tweet was sent out by Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter. The public launch of the micro -blogging site was done on July 15, 2006. The company confirmed that it has over 200 million users around the world with 400 million tweets being sent out on a daily basis.

Here is an excerpt from the company's official blog post

There's an old English saying, "Keep a thing seven years, and you'll always find a use for it. " Today is Twitter’s 7th birthday, which we observe on the day @jack first tweeted. Since then, we've seen breathtaking velocity in Twitter's growth, which is due entirely to your many uses of it. We're gratified that so many millions of you have made Twitter yours.

It's thanks to all of you that our open, real-time platform is thriving: we have well over 200 million active users creating over 400 million Tweets each day. The steep trajectory of Twitter's momentum is something @jack, @ev and @biz only dreamed about back in 2006.

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Samsung to launch a Facebook-like Social network next year

Are you fed of with facebook , twitter or Google ? If yes then it can be a good News for you all. After Google and Microsoft’s venture into social networking space, now Samsung seems to be working on a social networking service.

A recent report from The Korean Times, states that Samsung Electronics is expected to launch a Facebook-like social networking site by early next year.

The new social network according to the reports would be accessible on a wide range of devices, including laptops, cameras, televisions etc. To allow users to access the social networking service from any device and at any time, Samsung also plans to integrate the service with Amazon’s cloud computing platform.

When asked about the rumors of the upcoming social network, Samsung claimed that the company is just launching an update for Family Story – a social networking service focused on photo sharing, and storing families’ special moments, accessible on a limited number of Samsung smartphones and Web-connected televisions, since February 2012.

“By the end of the year, we will have a polished and finished version of Family Story that will be offered first to Samsung device users for free. The new service will become available in the first quarter of next year at the earliest. The eventual goal is to expand our social media service across different devices from different companies across different mobile platforms. That includes cameras, televisions and blue-ray players,”Samsung stated.

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Android 5.0 will reportedly launch in the fall on five phones

While many of us are still waiting for Android 4.0, Google is already firming up plans to launch version 5.0.

Also known as Jelly Bean, Android 5.0 is a huge enigma that nobody really knows anything about.

However, according to the Wall Street Journal, it will be fully up and running later this year, and it will debut on no fewer than five different phones.

And get this - according to the Journal, those five phones will all be branded as Nexus products. The "Nexus" name has been associated largely with only one active phone at a time, and it's the phone that Google has an active hand in developing.

Android 5.0

But it's expected that the Nexus brand will intensify over the coming months, especially as Google is assumed to be working on a Nexus-labeled tablet device. Of course, all this talk about Android 5.0 cannot help but lead some to think about the fact that Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, barely has a 5% penetration rate. And the rollout is still underway.

Many phones aren't even expected to get an update to Ice Cream Sandwich until later this year, but now it seems like by then it will already be outdated.

Google promised that Ice Cream Sandwich would be like a big reboot button for Android, aiming to solve the problem with device fragmentation.

But if Android 5.0 is already starting to launch on some devices by the time ICS gets fully deployed, it seems that strategy might be for naught.

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Twitter blocked in Pakistan over contentious material

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter on Sunday because it refused to remove material considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country’s top telecommunications officials.

The material was promoting a competition on Facebook to post images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, said Mohammad Yaseen, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication’s Authority. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.

Yaseen said Facebook agreed to address Pakistan’s concerns about the competition, but officials have failed to get Twitter to do the same.

”We have been negotiating with them until last night, but they did not agree to remove the stuff, so we had to block it,” said Yaseen.

Instructions to block the site came from Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology, said Yaseen.

”The ministry officials are still trying to make them (Twitter) agree, and once they remove that stuff, the site will be unblocked,” said Yaseen.
Officials from Twitter and Facebook were not immediately available for comment.

A top court in Pakistanordered a ban on Facebook in 2010 amid anger over a similar competition. The ban was lifted about two weeks later, after Facebook blocked the particular page in Pakistan.

The Pakistani government said at the time that it would continue to monitor other major websites for anti-Islamic links and content.

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Twitter's new email digest feature to summarise top stories, tweets for users

Micro blogging site Twitter has planned to roll out a new 'email digest' that would summarise top stories and tweets in users' networks. According to Othman Laraki, Twitter's growth and international director, the new weekly summary feature, which was announced on the company's blog Monday, is already available to some users.
 "This summary features the most relevant tweets and stories shared by the people you're connected to on Twitter," Laraki said in the blog post.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the new feature is described as being similar to Twitter's 'Discover' tab, which the social network redesigned earlier this month.
 The feature comes just four months after Twitter acquired Canadian start-up Summify, which is a service that sends users emails summarizing the top stories from their Twitter and Facebook networks as well as other services, such as Google Reader.

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Google unveils a simpler and nicer version of Google+

Do you use Google+ but unhappy with its looks and functioning? If yes good news is knocking your door as Google has just introduced a more functional and beautiful version of Google+ to encourage more people to use its social network. The search giant claims that more than 170 million people have already upgraded to Google+, and are enjoying its integration with Search, Gmail, YouTube, Blogger and and other Google products.

Here are some of the new changes that you can find on Google+:

Google+  Logo

Easy Navigation

Instead of static icons at the top, you will now see a dynamic ribbon of applications on the left. You can drag apps up or down, arrange them in the order you want. The navigation ribbon also allows you to show or hide apps by moving them in and out of “More”.
Keep the conversations going

Google has updated its social network to help members get the most out their conversations. Here are some of the new features:

Full bleed photos and videos that’ll make you really proud to post

A stream of conversation “cards” that make it easier to scan and join discussions

An activity drawer that highlights the community around your content

A new Hangouts page

Now there is a dedicated Hangouts page that creates even more opportunities to connect in person, during hangouts. You can find:

An always-updated list of invitations from the people in your circles

Quick access to every public and On Air hangout, for those times when you want to meet someone new, or watch a live broadcast

A rotating billboard of popular hangouts, pro tips and other items you don’t want to miss

A new Explore page

Google has also introduced a new Explore page that shows what’s interesting and trending across the network.

These improvements will be launched over the next few days. Find out more about Google+ updates here.

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